An explosion was reported this Sunday March 17 near a commercial ship off the southern coast of Yemen, the British maritime safety agency UKMTO reported, without reporting any damage.
The attack was not immediately claimed but since November, the Yemeni Houthi rebels have increased attacks against merchant and sometimes military ships in the Red Sea and off the coast of Yemen, pushing many shipowners to avoid this strategic area to international commerce.
The UKMTO agency said in a statement
that it "received a report from a commercial vessel of an explosion nearby"
, 85 nautical miles east of Aden, in southern Yemen.
“No damage has been reported on the ship and the crew is safe and sound
,” she added, without identifying the ship which resumed its journey.
“Legitimate targets”
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen at war, say they are carrying out attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war since October 7 against the Islamist movement Hamas.
Israel's first ally, Washington set up a multinational coalition in December to
“protect”
maritime traffic without succeeding in stopping the attacks.
Since mid-January, the United States and the United Kingdom have carried out several strikes against the positions of the rebels, who designated American and British ships as
“legitimate targets”
after initially claiming to target ships
“linked to Israel »
.
In a speech Thursday, Houthi leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi said his movement would
“continue and expand the scope of (its) operations
. ”
The American army announced on Saturday that it had shot down a drone launched by Houthis towards the Red Sea and several other devices in Yemen.